Noah's Ark (water park)
Encyclopedia
Noah's Ark is America's largest water park
, with 49 water slide
s and dozens of other various attractions. Located in the city of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
(the "Water Park Capital of the World," with 18 indoor water parks), Noah's Ark is a popular tourist attraction. The Travel Channel hailed Noah's Ark as "the place for water in the Midwest."
track.
In 1994, the Gantz family of Dubuque, Iowa, purchased Noah's Ark and added the "OctoExplorer", a yellow submarine with moving periscope, water guns and soft-surfaced waterslides.
In 2003, Noah's Ark Waterpark celebrated 25 years of operation. The park opened "Noah's Incredible Adventure",
The park uses over 2 million gallons of water on its rides. Its lifeguards earned the Platinum Award from Jeff Ellis and Associates Inc. (2006) This is the highest waterpark safety rating possible.
Water park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...
, with 49 water slide
Water slide
A water slide is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size...
s and dozens of other various attractions. Located in the city of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells is a city in south-central Wisconsin, with a population of 2,418 as of the 2000 census. It straddles four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. The city takes its name from the dells of the Wisconsin River, a scenic, glacially formed gorge that features striking sandstone...
(the "Water Park Capital of the World," with 18 indoor water parks), Noah's Ark is a popular tourist attraction. The Travel Channel hailed Noah's Ark as "the place for water in the Midwest."
History
In 1979, the Waterman family purchased 205 feet (62.5 m) of frontage property on U.S. Highway 12 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin and created a bumper boat ride and built a go-kartGo-kart
thumb|A [[Kart racing|racing kart]] at the [[Commission Internationale de Karting|CIK-FIA]] European Championship 2008A go-kart is a small four-wheeled vehicle...
track.
In 1994, the Gantz family of Dubuque, Iowa, purchased Noah's Ark and added the "OctoExplorer", a yellow submarine with moving periscope, water guns and soft-surfaced waterslides.
In 2003, Noah's Ark Waterpark celebrated 25 years of operation. The park opened "Noah's Incredible Adventure",
The park uses over 2 million gallons of water on its rides. Its lifeguards earned the Platinum Award from Jeff Ellis and Associates Inc. (2006) This is the highest waterpark safety rating possible.
Waterslides
- Jungle Rapids (1980) – Oldest slides; opened with three slides and added two more in 1981
- The Plunge (1984) – Two mat racing speed slides
- Slidewinder (1985) – 5 twisting bodyslides
- The Bermuda Triangle (1988) – Three tube slides
- Bahama Falls (1989) – Three tube slides that empty into Adventure River
- Congo Bongo (1991) – Family raft ride
- Kowabunga (1993) – Family raft speed slides
- Black Thunder (1995) – Two-person or single tube slides in the dark
- Dark Voyage (1997) – Family raft ride in the dark
- Point Of No Return (2001) – 10-story-tall speedslide that take riders three to five seconds to descend. However, one of the slides was taken down and replaced with Scorpion's Tail.
- Sting Ray (2002) – Two large halfpipes
- Black Anaconda (2005) – The second-longest water coaster in the United States at over 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) long (longest is Wildebeest at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN which is 0.33 mile (0.5310822 km) long.).
- Time Warp (2006) – The world's largest bowl ride.
- Scorpion's Tail (2010) – America's first upside down looping body slide that drops riders down a drop from a trap door in a capsule into an almost upside down loop.
Wave pools
- The Wave (1987) – Wave pool
- Big Kahuna (1989) – Large wave poolWave poolA wave pool is a swimming pool in which there are artificially generated, reasonably large waves, similar to the ocean's. Wave pools are often a major feature of water parks...
, once was the largest wave pool in Wisconsin Dells, but has been beaten by Mt. Olympus's Surf Pool
Lazy rivers
- Endless River (1985) – Simple lazy river
- Adventure River (1989) – Lazy riverLazy riverA lazy river is a water ride found in many amusement parks or water parks. They are also found at some resorts and recreation centers. It usually consists of shallow pool that flows similarly to a river....
Other attractions
- Bumper Boats (1979)–First attraction built at Noah's Ark
- Miniature Golf (1980)–18 holes.
- Paradise Lagoon (1984) – An activity pool featuring slides and ziplines
- OctoExplorer (1994) – Children's play area
- Flash Flood (1999) – One 20-passenger boat that descends a 50 feet (15.2 m) drop into a large pool; includes bridge observation area which gets hit by the subsequent wall of water created from the drop.
- Noah's 4-D Dive-In Theater (2007) – Midwest's Largest 4-D Theater featuring the movie Pirates 4-D
- Tadpole Bay Kiddie Kingdom (2008) – Children's play area featuring Noah's Ark theme, 4 kiddie waterslides, over 50 water features, and an 800 gallon bucket dump.
- Curse of the Crypt (2009) A new attraction for 2009.
Former attractions
- Tank Tag (1989) a game where participants shoot tennis balls at targets for points from stationary guns, and mobile tanks. Later taken down and replaced with the Sting Ray.
- Noah's Incredible Adventure (2003) – A high-capacity, dry amusement ride which involved a large "Mystery Swing" and special visual effects to recreate a journey on Noah's famous ark. It was replaced by Curse of the Crypt in 2009.